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Read Introduction to 2 Peter

 

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge.”

 

We now come to the first main segment of Second Peter. The first four verses comprise the Introduction. Verse five begins the body of the epistle. Verses 5-11 set before us the characteristics of the Christian life. Just any kind of life is not the Christian life. Certain qualities indicate whether the Christian is living genuine Christianity. These qualities set forth seven essential building blocks of the Christian life.

But also for this very reason

The word “this” refers to the divine disposition of the previous verse, that we are partakers of the divine nature. We can render “for this very reason” as “for this very cause.” This phrase’s antecedent is verses three and four, particularly the double gift of “life” and “godliness” bestowed on us by Christ. This dual gift should compel us to use our divine nature or disposition for God’s glory. The idea is this: “Seeing that we have power for life and godliness, we should use our divine nature.”

There is a striking proposition in the first four verses, which set forth our status in Christ. Beginning with verse five, we come to another side of the coin. The other side is the corollary to our position in Christ, which has to do with our state, not our status. It has to do with our deportment before God. This reality depends on what we do, not what He did.

PRINCIPLE:

God wants us to apply truth to experience.

APPLICATION:

Our status before God is not changeable, but our state is changeable, for it is the experience of our status. The order is crucial. First comes our status, then our state. First comes our position before God, then follows our responsibility to that position. God first saves us by grace. Now that we have the gift of eternal life, we do something with it.

Eph 4:1, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.”

Our calling is our status quo before God in Christ (Ephesians chapters 1-3). Our “walk” is how we apply that status to experience (Ephesians 4-6). We need to do something with the “divine nature” (disposition) that God gave us.

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